Silverton Hardware has operated along Montgomery Road since 1915, but the property is now being offered for sale. Owner Chris Chrisman is marketing the site with or without the hardware operation, creating uncertainty for employees and longtime customers as development plans around the corridor evolve.
Chrisman said he had not originally planned to enter the hardware business. As reported by WCPO 9 Cincinnati, he bought the store in part because of development planned nearby, a rationale that changed as those plans shifted. The station reported that Josh Rothstein, vice president of sales and leasing for Colliers, is listing the property for Chrisman.
Rothstein told the outlet that Silverton will look drastically different in two or three years, though he said he hopes there will always be a place for Silverton Hardware in whatever comes next. That tension between neighborhood tradition and looming change runs through nearly every part of the store's daily operation, from the employees behind the counter to the corridor outside its front door.
Decades Behind the Counter
Todd Murphy has worked at Silverton Hardware for more than a decade and cuts window-screen frames for customers who need repairs. In the account cited above, Murphy described the pressure independent stores face from larger competitors and said few businesses like Silverton Hardware remain. Another employee, who has worked there for three years, also described the store as important to the community.
Rick Hillman runs a luggage repair shop out of Silverton Hardware and told the station that he gets customers from across the country. He said he would die at Silverton Hardware and be taken out in a suitcase, a line that captures how deeply some of the store's tenants have rooted themselves in the space. The store also functions as a UPS Access Point and offers window screen repair, lawn mower blade sharpening, key cutting, and lamp fixture repair, according to Silverton Hardware's website, services that generate the kind of foot traffic and community reliance that big-box chains rarely replicate.
A Corridor in Transition
Silverton Hardware's future is unfolding alongside planned construction near Montgomery Road. A commercial listing on LoopNet said construction on a 119-unit luxury-apartment expansion at the nearby AG47 complex was scheduled to begin in early 2026, following an initial 204-unit mixed-use project along Stewart and Montgomery roads.
What the public plans show
Public records point to several related planning efforts, but they do not establish a single completed redevelopment schedule for the corridor. According to the Hamilton County Department of Planning and Development, Silverton's Small Area Plan called for streetscape designs along Montgomery Road between Stewart and Plainfield roads. Silverton Village Council minutes from Jan. 2, 2025, said the Planning Commission was awaiting the Stage III submission for AG47, Phase II, indicating that the project remained in the review process at that point. Together, those records document planning and review activity, while the timing of any broader corridor changes remains dependent on subsequent approvals and construction.
The village has also pursued public investment nearby, establishing Silverton Town Commons at Montgomery and Plainfield roads as an outdoor gateway park meant to draw pedestrian activity into the downtown redevelopment district, per the Cincinnati Design Awards. Transit-oriented housing has also been discussed elsewhere as a way to add density along urban corridors. Census figures compiled by Data USA put Silverton's population at roughly 4,860 across 1.11 square miles, with a median household income of $72,143 and a homeownership rate of 41.4%.
Squeezed by National Pressures Too
Independent hardware stores like Silverton's also face national pressures. Retail tracking data from Numerator, cited by TheStreet, found that Home Depot, Lowe's and Amazon together command 56% of the U.S. home-improvement market, making it difficult for smaller retailers to match the volume discounts available on standard bulk items.
Silverton Hardware's roots stretch back further than most businesses in the region. The store dates to 1915, and Chrisman is its current owner. The village itself traces back to a crossroads called Mosner in 1809 before growing around a railway connection in the 1880s.
For now, the store remains open, with Murphy still cutting screen frames and Hillman still fixing luggage for customers who travel from across the country to reach him. Whether that continues under new ownership, or in a different form entirely, remains an open question as Chrisman weighs offers on the property with or without the hardware business included.
